Insert Keyphrases Early in the Page Title and the Headline

Search engines assume that the words used in a webpage's title and headline are the best indicator of its topic.

So, avoid vague titles. Better still, insert the primary keyphrase at, or near, the beginning of an article's title and headline.

For instance, "It Just Might Save Your Life" may peak the reader's interest. However, a webpage with that title is likely to rank much lower in search engine results than "Colonoscopy Screening Reduces Colorectal Cancer Deaths by 80%" when "colonoscopy," "colonoscopy screening," or "colorectal cancer" are the search terms.

To prove this to yourself, conduct a search at Google for any keyphrase. As you examine the top 10 results, you'll see that the vast majority of the top listings include your keyphrase (aka "search term") in the title. As an added bonus, Google uses bold letters to emphasize where the keyphrase appears in titles. Bold letters attract the eye and increase the likelihood that an internet surfer will click-thru on the bolded listing.

Optimizing your titles for search engines isn't an excuse to make them boring. Make sure your titles are still compelling, because they will be displayed in search engine results at Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Effective titles act as a promise to readers. Your title should let your readers know that you are about to teach them how to do something, convey a fascinating insight, provide authoritative information, or reveal a juicy, salacious secret.

When formatting a webpage with HTML, your title tag, coded as <title>text</title>, should be identical or at least similar to your heading 1 tag, coded as <h1>text</h1>.

Examples:

<title>Rudy Giuliani Scandals</title>
<h1>Rudy Giuliani Scandals</h1>
<title>Marijuana Medicinal Uses</title>
<h1>Legalize Marijuana for Medicinal Use</h1>